Page 150 of Cursed Crowns

Celeste swung down from the gangway, showcasing her newly honed warrior magic as she landed on deck with a triumphant thud. Wren hesitated. A soldier stepped forward, his hand outstretched to help her. She knew him at once.

Wren’s breath hitched as she took Tor’s hand, her legs trembling as she came to the end of the walkway. She was so distracted by his presence that she made a misstep and nearly tumbled into the sea. He lunged forward, catching her by the waist and pulling her against him.

“Careful,” he said, his warm breath ruffling her hair. He swung her around, lowering her gently to the deck.

Wren found her footing, but she was slow to step away from the soldier. She didn’t want to lose the feeling of his hands on her body, or that stormy gaze pouring into hers. The air crackled between them, afamiliar flare heating her cheeks.

“You’re back,” she said.

He smiled. “I didn’t think we’d—”

“Excuse me! I also require some assistance!” Rose called out from the gangway. “I’m the one you called for, am I not?”

Tor stepped away from Wren and turned back to the gangplank to help Rose.

“Queen Rose,” he said in an entirely different voice. Formal. Stiff. “The king is in his cabin, waiting for you.”

“Lead the way, soldier,” said Rose, shooing him on. “Let’s get this over with.”

60

Rose

Rose followed Tor across the deck, pausing when she realized Wren wasn’t by her side. She turned back to her sister. “Wren?”

Tor cleared his throat. “King Alarik has requested that you come on your own.”

A strange expression flashed across Wren’s face so fast Rose nearly missed it. It looked almost like hurt. And yet she made no move to follow Rose. She truly trusted the king of Gevra.

Well, that made one of them.

Rose wrung her hands. “Must I go alone into the cabin of the man who very recently kidnapped my grandmother and kept my own sister locked up against her will?”

Tor’s hand came to the pommel of his sword. “I give you my word, Queen Rose, that no harm will befall you while you are on this ship.”

Rose assessed the soldier and found that she trusted him. But, more than that, she trusted his loyalty, not to her but to her sister, who had survived the icy maw of Gevra, thanks in large part to him, and who was now staring after them like a lovesick paramour.

“If Rose isn’t back up here in ten minutes, I’m telling my brother to ram this ship,” Celeste called after them.

“You’ll do no such thing!” said Rose, but she felt the warmth of her friend’s chuckle through the gathering mist.

Wren summoned a smile, waving her onward. “We’ll be right here waiting for you. You can do this, Rose. It has to be you.”

And with her sister’s belief in her bolstering her confidence and quickening her steps, Rose followed Tor belowdecks.

Downstairs, they paused before a heavy wooden door, the intricate carving of a silver ice bear marking it as the king’s cabin.

Tor knocked, and when the door opened, a tendril of icy mist seeped out. Rose shivered as the strange chill settled underneath her thick furs.

King Alarik stood before her. “Rose.” He nodded his head, his expression absent of his usual simmering arrogance. “Please come in.”

“You’ve certainly changed your tune,” said Rose as she stepped into the cabin. “I suppose you’re capable of being at least somewhat polite when you want something. And it’sQueenRose.”

“Forgive me, Queen Rose.” The king stepped to one side, revealing the figure of his brother, lying on the four-poster bed in the middle of the cabin. “I am most grateful for your help.”

The sight of Prince Ansel pierced Rose’s heart. She suddenly remembered that she had come today not as a queen but as a healer. “I’ll do my best,” she said softly.

“I hope your best is better than what your sister could do,” said Anika, who was sitting on a chair by the bed, keeping watch over her brother and wearing what looked to Rose like a fur-lined dressing gown. The Gevran princess glanced at the soldier hovering in the doorway. “I don’t want you in here, Tor. Alarik may have forgiven you, but I have not. I won’t have these final minutes with my brother sullied by your presence.”

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